Disappointment at the Tokyo Motor Show has left not only fans of Japanese cars flustered, but some German auto fans aren’t too happy about it either. But why were fans of BMW left frustrated by a no show on the part of Toyota Motor Company?
What You May Not know About the Toyota Supra and BMW
When The Fast and The Furious hit theaters in 2001, it catapulted the Toyota Supra into stardom. The car was acknowledged for its fine engineering and versatility, then it was discontinued in 2002. Ever since, fans have been asking Toyota to revive the model, and three years ago the company answered those pleas with a thrilling Supra concept car along with production promises.
Fast forward to 2017, and spy shots of the rumored Supra production model had many fans expecting the car to break cover at the Tokyo Motor Show. When it was a no show, Supra fans were dumbstruck, but so were quite a few BMW fans. Here’s why…
If You Like the Z4…
In 2016, BMW discontinued the Z4 due to poor sales numbers. Considering those numbers, most industry analysts predicted that this would be the end of the Z model, but BMW soon squashed that rumor. They announced that there would be a new Z4 model, and Toyota would help develop the machine.
Forming a development alliance, BMW and Toyota split development costs to produce the base elements of a new sports car. Once these basics were developed, each automaker would then use this jointly developed platform as the basis for a new Toyota Supra model and a new BMW Z4 model.
Camouflaged test models of each car have been recently spotted in Tokyo and around the Nürburgring, which fed rumors that one or both could break cover soon. The Tokyo Motor Show seemed like a good venue for such an unveiling, even if it was rumored that only the Supra would break cover, but it did not.
Some BMW fans may have been hoping that a glimpse of the Supra would provide a preview of what the new Z4 would be like, but descriptions of these two cars are varying wildly. The Supra is rumored to not share the same engine as the Z4—it will instead have 4-cylinder, 6-cylinder and hybrid options. The new Z4 sounds like it will have another version of BMW’s famed i-6 engine, with no talk of a 4-cylinder or hybrid option. So, don’t expect the new Supra to need a BMW technician like the Z4 will, but analyst are now predicting that both cars will break cover in 2018, possibly at the same time since their production schedules are similar.
